Testing rolling resistance of the Various Tires of the Suzukiclone Fleet (RE92 wins)

[NeilBlanchard]

The lowest rolling resistance tires I know of are the Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 205/55 16's and the Nokian Hakka R2 winter tires.

[MetroMPG]

And here it is with coro discs hiding the sexy wheels...



Those RE92's should go even further now.

[Gasoline Fumes]

Now put photos of the wheels on the covers!

[BabyDiesel]

I'm curious as to how you're go to wheel disc are so round. How do you do it?! Mine are more like a decagon

[freebeard]

A pin-hole in the center back would be sufficient.

I've always like this Metro. The black on fenderskirts, I think. Murder out the caps?

[MetroMPG]

I actually considered going with black discs, but I don't want to be driving a nearly invisible tiny car. The white disc look is growing on me.

BabyDiesel: that's what I did -- a pinhole in the back to trace out the circle. Then a big pair of sharp scissors.

[Xusn96]

I have recently had to replace the tires on my new to me '07 Civic, went with the Bridgestone Ecopia Plus 422EP. I believe I'm seeing 2-4 MPG improvement from the older Uniroyal Tigerpaws that were on it.

[MetroMPG]

I got this private message; I want to share it in the forum since I may not have the best perspective...

I noticed you tested Bridgestone RE92 tires and they had the best rolling resistance. I've been reading reviews on them and they are less than spectacular. Did you have these for a length of time where you can comment on thread-wear, traction, and corning? I usually take my corners pretty fast upwards of 45mph but the reviews say corning is terrible which I guess makes sense if they have the least amount of resistance. Sorry for the long message. Thanks for any info.

I drove on these for ~2 years on the Insight, and currently have some on my Firefly as well.

I didn't really pay attention to treadwear -- I drive so little that my tires typically dry rot before they're all worn out. But you can probably find info about that on Insight Central if you search.

I disagree that cornering grip is "terrible". The Insight was a decent handling car, and I rarely burned momentum needlessly by braking too much before the curves. In general I probably corner at above average speeds, but to keep my comments in context you have to understand where I'm coming from: most of my driving has been on 155/80R13's the past 10 years.

Anybody else want to chip in?

[MetroMPG]

OH: I should add the PM'er may be driving a Camry, which if true changes things. Because the RE92 is only LRR in the 165/65r14 size if I'm not mistaken. The other sizes of "RE92" are quite different tires.

[user removed]

When I REPLACED the Re92s on my Insight, my mileage did not change at all. When I replaced the ORIGINAL Bridgestone tires on my VX, which were 15 years old, with Michelin Xs that I paid $220 for installed and warrantied, the mileage dropped by 7 mpg. I think they (the originals) were B382s or something like that.

regards
mech